What is an eCargo bike?

With a battery and a motor under your bum, everywhere is flat.

Transporting things on bikes has a long history and here in Europe, we can look back a few generations to see how we came to be so interested in cargo bikes.

Not so long ago, bikes, animals and public or shared transport were most people’s options for travel. It’s not so different to the way things are today, if you live in a city or you don’t have a driving license.

Different things to different people

In many parts of the world, bikes are the first choice, because they carry people and stuff and can be adapted to carry more at very little cost. But carrying a cargo means different things to different people. Taking kids to school needn’t automatically mean getting into a car: cargo bikes can do that.

Delivering and collecting from homes or businesses is the modern cargo bike’s bread and butter, avoiding fuel costs, parking fees and penalties, and congestion charges, while still being able to travel through and access pedestrian zones.

Doing the shopping? eCargo bike. Sunday out with the family and need to take a baby seat and the dog? eCargo bike. Going to work and then the gym, and picking up food on the way home? eCargo bike.

While it’s clearly a practical solution for families, if you’re a business trying to choose between investing in a car, a van or a bike, make sure you consider exactly who will use it.

If you’re running a van, driver age counts, and less experienced drivers can produce eye-watering insurance quotes. Cargo bikes and eCargo bikes don't have this problem. Anyone can ride a bike, and anyone over 14 can legally ride eCargo bikes. The cargo bike is truly democratised transport for the 14 to 140 age group.

Bikes and hills don't mix

I was talking to a guy from Amsterdam and learning about why the city is one of Europe’s cycling Nirvanas. Apart from them having the foresight to plan mobility around bikes after the war, when bikes were really the only affordable transport option, the flatness of the place obviously suits two-wheeled transport. And now, he said, with a battery and a motor under your bum, everywhere is flat.

Eureka! Everywhere is flat

Suddenly, most of the objections to using a bike for carrying cargo have vanished, and an eCargo bike is the most capable load-carrier yet. We love eBikes and we’re especially keen on eCargo bikes. The bigger, the better! An eCargo bike gives you greater road presence and a better chance of being taken seriously by car drivers. Just throw everything into the front and go. I do the ten miles from home to station in 45 minutes, taking in two hills that always put me into granny gear on a road bike, and arriving without a sweaty back or any parking issues.

If you want a vehicle that’ll move more than just you, you have so many options. From a road bike with a rack to a Porteur; from a Tern to a more serious Riese and Muller Load or Packster, to an Urban Arrow Load; we have the bike for you.